The Rest is Still Unwritten: Drama at Burghley’s First Horse Inspection

Joseph Murphy and Belline Fighting Spirit. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

There’s always a unique kind of buzz and anticipation that comes before the first horse inspection at a CCI5*. That final hour before it begins feels like the hinterland of possibility: the nerves haven’t totally kicked in yet, the atmosphere is convivial and unhurried, and everyone – from the groundsmen doing their rounds to the coffee stand folks steaming their first lattes of the week, has time to stop and chat and smile. To lean on a cliché, you could say that it’s the calm before the storm; today at the Defender Burghley Horse Trials, it actually just… was the storm.

Though most of the day thus far had escaped some pretty grizzly weather warnings, in the final couple of hours before everything was set to kick off, they all caught up with us at once. Team EN was split between the sensible one, tucked away in the media centre, and the deeply silly one (me), hiding under a tree at the Leaf Pit, wringing bucketloads of water out of my bra and wondering if a tree might not be the best protection from lightning. We all survived, but morale was dented, frankly.

The relentlessness of the rainfall (and all its accoutrements) meant that the trot-up got shunted a half-hour along in the schedule, which mostly worked out in everybody’s favour – at least until the final few horses and riders, at which point we all got to feel the rain on our skin, no one else can feel it for us, only we can let it in, et cetera et cetera.

Today gave us our first introduction to this week’s ground jury, presided over by Andrew Bennie of New Zealand, who’s joined by Christina Klingspor of Sweden and Valerie Pride of the USA.

Laura Birley and Bob Cotton Bandit. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Sadly, the field of 52 was thinned by one at this early juncture: Burghley first-timer Laura Birley was sent to the holding box with her 17-year-old Bob Cotton Bandit, and upon re-presentation, the pair were not accepted into the competition.

That was the only combination to even glimpse the holding box at this first inspection – though it wasn’t the only display of drama. Even in the ever-shifting landscape of eventing, Burghley remains the pinnacle in terms of terrain and stamina questions, and many of the horses taking part in the competition were more than happy to show off just how fit they are – to the chagrin, perhaps, of their well-coiffed and grimacing handlers. Though more than a few decided to demonstrate their scope to the crowds, and one or two slipped the lead and attempted to make a dash for cross-country, all were happily returned to their assigned seats and kept it together enough to get the job done.

Sam Lissington and Billy Alberto. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The HiHo Silver Best-Dressed awards went to New Zealand’s Sam Lissington, who’s double-handed this week with Lord Seekonig and Billy Alberto, and to Great Britain’s Matt Heath, who brings forward Askari for his third crack at Burghley.

Matt Heath and Askari. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

And now? It’s on to day one of dressage, which begins tomorrow at the remarkably sociable hour of 10.00 a.m. local time (5.00 a.m. EST – less sociable, sorry). The first horse and rider to enter the ring will be World Number One Harry Meade and the trailblazer of his three rides this week, Et Hop du Matz. He’ll be followed by Ireland’s Austin O’Connor and his first of two rides, Sixmilewater. We’ll see both of our US representatives come forward tomorrow, too: British-based Grace Taylor will come forward with Game Changer at 11.15 (6.15 a.m. EST), while Cassie Sanger, who’s been based with Ros Canter during her stint on European soil this summer, will ride at 11.47 (6.47 a.m. EST) with Redfield Fyre.

We’ll be bringing you two jam-packed reports tomorrow, but that’s not all: this week, Team EN is also a two-horse runner, so you can expect plenty of extra insights into the competition and its participants, plus, of course, our bumper form guide and Ultimate Guide, which will be live and kicking this evening. Keep it locked on EN, pop your wellies on, and let’s Go Eventing!